to waste time doing something without a particular purpose.

It was a serious academic school, not a place to fool around.

Usage notes: often used in the negative to mean to not waste time but to act with a serious purpose:

The coach was in no mood to fool around, and the team knew it.

I've had to reorganize, redefine, & separate "fool around" from "fool around with sth" and "with sb" orig. combined in 2 entries, as the objects differ; also "mess around" etc.--SL, 12/02

Related vocabulary: fuck around

• set on a collision course
• set out
• set out something
• set out stall
• set out to
• set out to do something
• set out your stall
• set right
• set sail
• set sights
• set sights on
• set sights on doing something
• set sights on something
• set someone against someone
• set someone against something
• set someone apart from someone
• set someone apart from something
• set someone back
• set someone off
• set someone on a collision course
• set someone's mind at rest
• set someone straight
• set someone up
• set someone up for life
• set something against someone